Walden, Bucshon emphasize need to pass legislation to promote autonomous vehicles

U.S. Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR) and Larry Bucshon (R-IN) this week underscored that bipartisan and bicameral collaboration was needed to pass legislation that promotes the autonomous vehicle industry, or else the United States risked falling behind.

The lawmakers discussed the challenges with transitioning to autonomous vehicles (AVs) as the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce held a hearing on Feb. 11 titled, “Autonomous Vehicles: Promises and Challenges of Evolving Automotive Technologies.”

“We have the opportunity to prevent a family from experiencing the overwhelming despair from the loss of a loved one due to human errors on the road,” Rep. Walden, ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said during the hearing. “We have the ability to break down the barriers to mobility facing seniors and the disabled community and we can create new economic opportunity by ensuring the United States can be the global leader in this emerging technology. That is my ask to all of you, work with us, and let’s get this done — this year.”

Previously, while serving as chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Walden led three hearings on autonomous vehicles and more than 300 stakeholder meetings. The discussions led to the 2017 House passage of the SELF Drive Act, which failed to pass out of the Senate by the end of the 115th Congress.

“Despite the work that was done then and the setback of coming up short, we are still here today talking about a need to pass an AV bill in the House. The U.S. is in a global race to AVs, but today the cost of inaction is clear: we are falling behind,” Rep. Walden said.

Rep. Bucshon agreed. Prior to the hearing, the congressman wrote an op-ed with U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) that appeared in The Hill highlighting the need for the United States to promote innovation with developing AV technology without compromising safety.

“Although the U.S. is currently ahead of China when it comes to self-driving cars, we could lose that momentum and our position if we do not make this a national priority as they have,” the lawmakers wrote.

Self-driving cars could eliminate the human error that is responsible for thousands of deaths each year, Reps. Bucshon and Rush wrote, and AVs have the potential to yield significant economic benefits.